Disclaimer: I don't own any Sly Cooper characters; they belong to Sucker Punch. The idea of Phantom of the Opera belongs to its rightful owner(s).
Claimer: I own all of my original characters.
Holy crap this chapter was hard to write! I was a little stumped on how I would do it since I wanted it to end the way I have it. But I eventually got is straightened out but I'm still not that happy with it. Oh well, but the rest of is story will run smoothly so I am happy. And the fact I use the word grapple-cam tons of times but I hate typing it. I can type around 80 words a minute but putting a hyphen in slows me down (which I hate). But, I finally got it written and the plot starts to thicken at the end of this and the rest. So, please read and review and let me know what you think and what I can improve!
Chapter 5: A Ghostly Meeting
I sat up from the kitchen table, away from the computer, and walked to the window to think. I silently chewed on a nail and going over what the Phantom had just secretly revealed to the grapple-cam. I rested my paws against the side of the sink and took a deep breath, hoping to calm my nerves. Other than concern for Ramona's safety, the biggest question on my mind was how did the Phantom even get a chance to get to Ramona? Since we learned how the Phantom got into her apartment the last time, Ramona had sealed up the entrance that allowed him access to her home. Now that it was sealed, there was no way he could have gotten in, unless he broke in the old fashioned way. I pondered this thought for a while until the sounds of Bentley typing away at the computer filled my ears. I glanced to the wheelchair bound turtle before back out the window. He was adjusting the settings on the grapple-cam while I stayed quiet. I needed to figure out how the Phantom had gotten into her apartment and how he had altered her memory. After that I'd have to come back and figure how to stop that wedding ceremony; or if push came to shove crash it.
"I'm going to her apartment," I muttered as I pushed myself away from the sink, "I'll be back later." After seeing what I just had from the grapple-cam I wasn't in that good of a mood and ready to take on just about anything that got in my way. I normally never let my emotions get in the way of my actions but this incident was pushing my limits.
"Wait!" Bentley shouted behind me, "Don't you want to figure this out?"
"Later." I muttered as I exited the building. I rushed down the streets towards Ramona's apartment as I thought of different ways the Phantom could have gotten in. the passageway through the one way mirror was sealed off so that was out of the question, she had a total of maybe three windows in her entire apartment, her sliding glass door had a lock that usually stumped me, and her front door was always locked. Unless they guy was a master lock picker, I was stumped. Despite his title, the man wasn't an actual ghost and could do absolutely nothing supernatural, except maybe a slight gift in hypnotism. And then there was the actual fact of how he even had control of Ramona in the first place. Ramona was an extremely talented fighter and any attempt he would attempt to make on her she would surely put a fight and from the grapple-cam shots and my spying, he didn't have a single scratch on him. There had to be something more complicated going on when it came to how he managed to control her. Sitka, Ramona's older brother, was extremely protective of his sister and if the Phantom had broken in, I would have heard from him by now. In fact, I hadn't heard from her brothers or sisters since this entire thing started a few days ago. Maybe I'd hear from one of them soon and see if they had any additional information or if they even knew what was going on.
"Cooper!" I groaned when I recognized the voice. I turned and knew I was in for a nagging speech when my eyes landed on Ramona's older sister, Charlotte. Even if she was older than both Ramona and Carmelita, her resemblance to Carmelita could have made them identical. The angered vixen stormed down the streets and there was no way this would end nicely. To be honest, Charlotte was more intimidating than her older brother for numerous reasons. For one, even if her normal attitude was rather quiet she still had the streak of Latin temper in her that gave her a mean side. So when she was mad, it was almost as if you took the temper of both Ramona and Carmelita and compiled them into one petite form. Second, being a former Interpol officer and then the skills she had picked up while thieving, she could fight better than most people I knew and could beat the crap out of anyone who crossed her. Her fur was ruffled, she was absolutely frazzled, and I ready to get yelled at.
"What did you do to my sister?" she shouted after she rushed up next to me on the sidewalk.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing," I spat out quickly after seeing that her paws were balled up into fists, "I'm trying to get everything sorted out now!" she hit my with a left hook to the chest and I couldn't help but wheeze out a breath. For a small woman, she packed a punch.
"Then tell me why she doesn't know who I am! Tell me why she says she's getting married!" she was shouting and attempted to pull me into a headlock before I could answer. I stepped backward and put my arms up to keep her a small distance away.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Trust me, I'm just as confused as you are. All I'm sure of is that this is due to the Phantom we dealt with a few months ago. I swear, that's all I know." That seemed to calm her down a little but she was still frazzled. Thankfully she wasn't as headstrong as her brother but was still a upset. She shoved my arms off her shoulders and gave a huff.
"Fine," she spat out, "but if you do have anything to do with it I will be back." She pointed a finger up to my nose before walking away. After I was sure she was gone I let out a breath and was glad she had left. He temper was fiery and you didn't want to be on the receiving end of it. I shook it off and continued for my destination. After seeing how mad Charlotte was, the last person I wanted to see today was her brother. But knowing my luck, it was only a matter of time until I'd see him. I calmly walked through the streets, trying to avoid attention to myself and for keeping an eye out for Ramona's brother or the Phantom. I spotted Ramona's apartment complex a block or two over and it was peaceful looking, as usual. Ramona's glass door could bee seen from my position and it appeared to be intact and there wasn't anything suspicious. I had only taken one step before I was pulled backwards by the scruff of my neck and pulled into the nearest alley. I felt my cane be swiped away from my grasp and forcefully rammed against my neck. My first though was that Sitka had figured out what was going on and taking his anger out on me but I was completely wrong. I felt my head slam against the brick wall and when my head finally stopped spinning, I saw who had actually grabbed me. I tried to push my cane off of my neck so I could breathe but it was too much force for me to push away. I looked up and I was standing eye to eye with the cold, unmoving, expressionless, masked face of the Phantom.
Well, I'll be honest, I don't like this chapter. I feel that it's actually pointless but I ended it the way I did for a reason. And I decided to use Charlotte instead of Sitka since I really hadn't used her in my stories lately and I didn't want people to think I'd just left her out! So I put a little bit of a description in just incase but I still don't care for this chapter (except for maybe the last paragraph or so). But I had to put a little length in it so I added the confrontation with Charlotte (even though I had planned it for later). But, please review and give me your thoughts, questions, comments, suggestions, just any feedback so I know how I'm doing. Thanks!